Star Trek: Swiftfire 02: The Front
by The Sisko
Summary: The Dominion damages the Fifth Fleet's repair yard, the Fifth is left with no way to do major repairs to their vessels and non-stop attacks by Dominion forces put the fleet in a deadly situation.
1. Chapter 1

**STAR TREK: SWIFTFIRE**

**_The Front  
_**

(Season 1: Episode 2)

* * *

"_Contact, at 205 degrees. 40 kilometres,"_ came a female voice over the radio.

"Acknowledged. Bravo flight come to a heading of 205 degrees," said Jonathan.

Jonathan eased the control stick left and the aircraft's wing rolled as he turned to face the heading. As soon as he was in position he glanced back and saw the other two fighters in his flight. They were flying the F-22D Fighter, well they weren't really flying they were on the holodeck, him, Lieutenant Commander Nikki Whitechapel, and Commander Susan Core. The F-22D was an early 21st Century atmospheric "stealth" fighter craft. It was just about invisible to sensors of the time and was one of the best aircraft built.

"_I have a visual identification,"_ came Susan's voice over the radio. _"Looks like a flight of four Bear Novembers. Easy kills."_

"Okay. Set up behind them and close in."

The Bear-N was a relic from the mid 20th century. It was a large turboprop bomber that only remained in service with poorer nations. At this time in the 21st century the large long range bomber was coming about into vogue and that probably explained why the frankly antique aircraft was still in service. It was an easy kill for a fifth generation aircraft like the F-22. As they got closer he was able to identify who the bomber was aligned to.

"This is Bravo Flight to Eastern Coalition bombers. You are to immediately change your heading away from United States airspace. If you do not we will fire on you."

The Bomber continued as if nothing happened.

"I say again. Eastern Coalition…"

"_BREAK HARD RIGHT, LEAD!"_

Jonathan yanked the stick to the right and threw the throttle wide open. This took his fighter down and away from the bombers. Jonathan saw tracer bullets cut through the sky.

"Bombers have fired on Bravo Lead. We are firing back."

Jonathan levelled out and frantically scanned the sky. He saw the bombers high above him; his fighter had lost a lot of altitude in the manoeuvre. He saw the other F-22s had fallen back and were again lined up with the bombers. Jonathan saw two smoke trails that led back to the F-22s. Two bombers exploded.

"_Yahoo! Two kills. Going for the other two."_

Jonathan saw the F-22s line up with the last two bombers and then something caught his eye. Out of his blind spot appeared four streaks.

"Two, Three. Scramble! Bandits behind you!"

The two F-22s broke right and left. Jonathan hauled his fighter around and saw that he wasn't getting the bandits on radar. They had to be MiG-42s, it was the main Eastern Coalition stealth fighter similar to the F-22. Each F-22 had a pair of MiG-42s on its tail. Jonathan quickly squeezed off four missiles at the MiG-42s but he was at a bad angle and expected the missiles to miss. He wasn't trying so much to destroy them but to shake them off his wingmen. The MiGs started evasive manoeuvres but one was unlucky and one of the missiles impacted with the rear of the MiG.

Jonathan had just evened up the odds. But this wouldn't last for long. One of the MiGs fired a heat-seeking missile that hit an F-22. The F-22 spiralled out of control. The canopy popped off and the pilot's ejector seat soon followed. The other F-22 had managed to get on the tail of the MiG that had shot down the other F-22. The MiG's pilot tried to lose the F-22 but couldn't manage to get the F-22 off his tail. The F-22 opened fire with its cannon. The bullets ripped the MiG apart.

Jonathan fired two more missiles that missed the MiGs. But he slashed through guns blazing and sliced the wing off one of the MiGs. He heaved the F-22 around and saw the last MiG being tailed by the last remaining F-22. He could see tracers as the F-22 tried to hit the MiG with its cannons. Jonathan vectored in. It looked like the F-22 would bag the MiG when the pilot applied the air brakes, slowing the MiG down quickly. The F-22 overshot the MiG and was crippled by a salvo from the MiG's cannons. Jonathan quickly fired his last two missiles at the MiG, two heat-seekers. The MiG had slowed down so much it stalled. As it fell it gave the heat-seekers a direct view of the planes engine exhausts. But luck was on the MiG's side, the other F-22 exploded in mid-air creating a fireball that distracted the missiles. They went for the explosion since it was the more intense heat source. The missiles streaked off into the distance.

Jonathan went for a cannon pass. He knew he was going to overshoot so he quickly squeezed the trigger, the rounds went wide, and he heaved the F-22 into a wide arc so to lose some speed. Jonathan completed his arc and found the MiG wasn't where he thought it would be. He frantically searched the sky and saw it diving from above. The MiG fired a missile. The missile smashed into the mid section of the F-22 and everything went black.

* * *

Susan popped the canopy open.

"First rule of aerial combat, don't take your eyes off the enemy." She offered Jonathan a hand out of the simulator.

"I thought I was safe, she stalled. What did she do? Loop?"

"Yes. When she stalled she lit up her afterburners and since the planes nose was down it picked up a lot of speed. She saw you turn and pulled up. She turned the tables well."

Nikki came over. "I didn't do too well. I didn't even get a kill."

Jonathan lent against the simulator. They were in the holodeck, which had seven such simulators. The simulators allowed several people to fly against each other. The holodeck did offer flying but it couldn't give two groups different positions in the air, to do that you needed at least two holodecks tied together. That was easy to do but the simulators were easier and produced fewer problems when someone was shot down.

Commander Benton and three other pilots approached.

"Congratulations Wing Commander," said Jonathan. "I thought I had you there."

"Thank you, Captain. Two kills is impressive, even if one was a lucky shot."

One of the pilots shook his head. "Can't believe that missile got me. It wasn't even after me. It was locked onto chaff when I flew straight through it. Bam! I'm out of the game."

"We should do this again," suggested Maxine. "Maybe a different era? Early 20th Century is supposed to be when pilots were _really_ pilots."

"How's next Thursday?"

"Sounds fine."

The group were started to depart when the inter-ship comm. System sounded.

"_Captain to the Bridge. We have Dominion forces incoming."_


	2. Chapter 2

Jonathan, Susan and Nikki exited the Turbolift onto the bridge.

"Report!" Ordered Jonathan as they took their positions on the bridge.

"A scouting group from the 198th tactical wing probing the Dominion lines is being pursued by Jem'Hadar attack ships."

"Number?"

"Two dozen. The Admiral Brand is deploying the wing into the second line. If any attack ships get past the first line we have to stop them."

The _Swiftfire_ had been in the system for five days. It had been over a week since the war had begun and so far it wasn't going too well. Reports from the first engagements he had seen were not good. The Dominion had pushed the fleet back from several positions. Until now they had not made a move against the Fifth Fleet, which had settled for probing attacks along the border.

Ahead Jonathan saw several ships drop out of warp, a _Springfield_, two _Miranda's_, and a _Sabre _class starships. The _Springfield _appeared to be badly damaged and was leaking plasma from its left nacelle. Then came the Jem'Hadar. Twenty-four Attack ships appeared and were immediately engaged by the first line. _Peregrine_ fighters slashed down from above the attack ships catching then in a crossfire. _Sabres_ and _Miranda's_ closed in and engaged the Jem'Hadar. The Attack ships kept their attention on the scouting probe. The Scout group had passed through the large ships of the First line and as the Jem'Hadar tried to follow, _Galaxies_, _Nebulas_, _Excelsiors_ and _Akiras_ engaged them. But the Attack ships ignored them and kept on going.

"Single minded fellows, aren't they," said Lieutenant Commander Whitechapel.

"The Jem'Hadar are bred to follow orders. Their orders were probably to destroy the scout group, so that is what they are doing," said Karak.

"But it's suicide! They can't take on a full fleet," said Ensign Cole.

"To them it is not. This is glory. For the Founders' I am sure," said Karak.

Only five Attack ships remained as they reached the second line, heading towards the 268th Tactical Wing's position.

"I've got a target lock."

Jonathan nodded his head slightly. "Fire."

Nikki's fingers raced over the Tactical console. Four torpedoes launched from the Akira's weapons Pod. The torpedoes quickly closed the distance to the Jem'Hadar ship. The first two impacted on the ships forward shields, causing them to collapses. The last two hit the hull blowing the ship apart.

"Congratulations Lieutenant Commander, your first kill of the war."

The remaining four ships quickly fell to the other ships in the tactical wing.

"Any loses to report, Lieutenant Commander?" asked Jonathan.

"No, sir."

"What about the scouting group?"

"Two ships didn't make it back."

"Okay. Return the ship it its previous station, ensign. Stand down the crew from battle stations."

The _Swiftfire_ slowly started to move out of formation. Most of the ships in the first line were already heading off. Suddenly dozens of ships dropped out of warp. The _Swiftfire's_ systems went crazy as alarms started to go off.

"Report!"

"Jem'Hadar and Cardassian ships. Looks like an attack force. Eighty-three ships! Fifty-two are Attack ships, eight _Galors_, fifteen _Hidekis_, and eight Battle cruisers."

The Attack ships hit the broken first line. The Federation ships tried to reform to stop them from penetrating further into the system but it was too late. The large ships of the first line turned to face the Dominion forces, as the Attack ships zipped past. The smaller Starfleet ships engaged the Attack ships and also tried to fill the holes left by the large ships, which were out of position. The _Hideki_ class attack ships went after the unprepared _Peregrine_ fighters, destroying several before the small craft could respond to the new arrivals. The _Galors_ and Battle cruisers hung back, engaging at range. Thus keeping the first line from breaking off and going after the Attack ships.

The second line was still relatively in position and by the time the Attack ships hit it, the line was just about reformed. There was a third line but it was sparely spread and was made up of older ships. The Attack ships zipped through the second line. Then it dawned on Jonathan.

"They aren't after our ships; they are going for our facilities."

Deeper in system was a Starfleet Starbase, not a large Spacedock type it was a smaller type. In fact it was an old border post built back in the early years of the war with the Cardassians. It had since received a weapons upgrade, which meant it could hold off a decent sized attack force without help. The other Starfleet asset in the area was a large repair dock. The dock was fairly new, built when the Klingons invaded Cardassia and the Fifth Fleet was first station in the system. It was a large structure with multiple bays to repair ships. It was also unarmed and therefore could not defend itself.

"They're going for the repair docks. Lt. Commander Whitechapel, signal the Fighters for launch. Contact Admiral Brand for permission to pursue."

"Granted," said Karak after getting confirmation from their superior.

The _Swiftfire_ swung around to follow the attack ships. A dozen other ships did the same while the rest of the second line moved to reinforce the first line.


	3. Chapter 3

In the Shuttlebay the fighters had been moved out of their bays and were lined up for launch.

"_You are go for launch, Wing Commander. The Attack ships are going for the Repair Docks, we need to stop them."_

Maxine's wing had been ready since the first attack and was raring to go.

"You heard her, we are go for launch. Form up in groups and pick an Attack ship."

Maxine hit full throttle and her fighter jumped out of the Shuttlebay. The rest of the fighters followed suit. Maxine saw the Jem'Hadar Attack ships spread out before her. The smaller and quicker Starfleet ships had closed into weapons range and engaged the Attack ships. But there were more Attack ship then there were _Sabres_, _Norways_ and _Mirandas_ and they couldn't stop them all, hopefully the addition of Maxine's wing would stop the Jem'Hadar.

Maxine had closed to firing range. The Jem'Hadar Attack ship, like many ships its size had poor weapons coverage. Its weapons could only really cover the forward arc this made it easy and safer to attack from the rear. The same could also be said about the _B'Rel_, _Defiant_, and _Sabre_. So if you got behind one you would be relatively safe, this was great for fighters since they could only take so much weapons fire. Maxine eased the control stick to the left as she lined up with the Attack Ship. The _Peregrine's_ flight system went against current design. Shuttle and capital ships used the touch screen; LCARS system for control and at first so did the _Peregrine_. But it was soon found out that the use of a control stick instead of pressing buttons allowed for faster reactions in combat. The _Peregrine_ still had the LCARS system, which was used for everything else from sensors to warp travel. One could fly the ship using it but the control stick was more popular and the LCARS touch system was only really used for controlling a ship during warp travel.

Maxine pressed the trigger on the control stick and her pulse phasers fired. The Attack ship's shields flared as the Phasers hit them. Another set of Pulse Phasers joined in the assault as Maxine's wingman joined in. Two more _Peregrines_ swooped in and fired their phaser arrays. The Attack ships shields collapsed. Maxine quickly armed her Micro torpedoes and quickly fired two at the Attack ship. The Attack ships weak armour buckled under the torpedoes destructive energy. The other fighters' Phasers increased the damage been done until the ship exploded.

By now the Jem'Hadar had reached the Repair Docks, all but eighteen were destroyed. The Repair Docks were huge and had multiple shield generators scattered around it but it was not a combat unit. At that moment, two _Excelsiors_ were docked with the yards. The Jem'Hadar Attack Ships opened fire on the yards. Some of the shield generators were not up to it and they collapsed under the pressure. The Attack ships' weapons fire impacted on the docks. Parts of the Dock's structure exploded causing other parts to collapse. As the Attack Ships passed one of the _Excelsiors_ four sets of Quantum torpedoes shot out from behind the _Excelsior_, destroying two Attack Ships. Pulse Phaser fire appeared and was closely followed by two _Defiant_ class ships. They had hugged the hull of the _Excelsior_, which hide them from the sensors of the other ships and they sat and waited for the Attack ships.

The Attack ships looped around and engaged the pursuing Starfleet ships and they were slaughtered for their trouble. Two Attack ships made it past the Starfleet ships and made another run at the Docks. They fired at the Docks, doing little damage but it was ramming the docked _Excelsior_ that did it. The large ship exploded taking out a large portion of the Dock as well as doing damage to the most of the remaining sections of the Docks.

* * *

"NO! The Docks! Damn it! Recall the fighters, Lieutenant Commander and prepare Away Teams to lend assistance," ordered Jonathan.

"Captain, the Dominion attack force is falling back. The Admiral is ordering our forces to hold position."

"Looks like the Dominion got what they came for," said Commander Core. "I have a feeling this isn't going to get any better."

Three hours later the surviving Dominion ships warped out. This was the third attack since the attack that had heavily damaged the Docks.

"Report," ordered Jonathan.

"Shields at 63%. Minor damage. The torpedo tubes on the lower decks are offline."

"Losses?"

"We lost four ships. Eight are heavily damaged."

"That's forty ships destroyed or heavily damaged. With the docks struggling to repair one ship at a time, I think it is safe to say we are in a whole lot of trouble."

* * *

Maxine struggled to keep the wings of her fighter level as she brought the _Peregrine_ into the Shuttle Bay. As she neared the fighter bay a tractor beam locked on and eased the fighter into the bay. A dozen crewmen were there waiting for it. Maxine lowered the ships landing struts, which also caused the wings to raise and retract. The wings sloped down in such a way it doubled the height of the fighter, by raising and retracting the wings the fighters took up less space. The tractor beam eased the fighter onto the deck. The maintenance crew immediately scrambled over the fighter, the reason for this was in the last attack Maxine had been too close to an exploding Battle cruiser and her fighter had received massive damage. Maxine popped open the canopy. One of the crew appeared over her and started to talk to Maxine. Maxine looked at him. She couldn't hear what he was saying. Suddenly she felt very dizzy. He waved his hand directly in front of Maxine's eyes. She didn't respond. A panicked expression appeared on his face as, he hit his combadge and Maxine disappeared in a transporter haze.


	4. Chapter 4

Doctor Carol Murphy came to see the damage.

"Injuries?" she asked the nurse.

"Concussion, she had no idea she was hurt. She has several broken bones plus internal and external bleeding from shrapnel. She lost consciousness just before we beamed her here; she is in a bad way."

"Sedate her and then run a full bio-scan. I want to know if there is anything else."

Dr. Carol Murphy was the Chief Medical Officer on the _Swiftfire_. She was the oldest officer onboard, well the oldest human officer. She had had a love for medicine since she was born. She was born premature and it had been a running joke that she was so into becoming a Doctor that she decided to deliver herself! She had started out as a normal civilian Doctor but she was seduced into joining Starfleet during the height of the Federation-Cardassian War. She thought she would be on one of the big exploration vessels travelling the stars, it was so romantic. But the reality was anything but romantic. She was sent to a Border world were Starfleet and the Cardassian Military were fighting. It was horrific, all the death, the blood, the screams. She worked non-stop, sometimes going for as long as 50, 60 hours straight. Young men and women would arrive in a state of…death. Some were dead others were dying. She nearly quit after that but something had made her stay. Now she was back to the beginning of it all.

"Scan complete. Nothing new. The shrapnel is lodged in her abdominal area but it has not ruptured any important organs."

"Good. Do you think you can pull it out, Nurse Wood?"

"It's not obstructed by anything. I think I can."

"Okay. Pull it out." She called over a third person. "I'm going to need help closing and repairing the wound."

Dr. Murphy and the two nurses crowded around Maxine's side. Wood grasped the shrapnel while Carol and the other nurse held Maxine down. He pulled at the shrapnel and eased it out. Even though Maxine was sedated she still flinched from the pain. Blood trickled out of the opening. More and more blood came out as the object was removed.

"Damn, she's losing a lot of blood. We need to get it out quickly. Bernard, we have to quickly stop the internal bleeding and then seal up the wound. Ready? On three. One, two, three, NOW!"

The Medic pulled the shrapnel fully out of Maxine's side. Blood came pouring out. Carol and the other nurse started to repair the damage. They quickly patched Maxine up. Carol grabbed a tricorder and scanned Maxine. The results showed that Maxine's life signs were stable.

There was quite a bit of blood on the floor, the bio-bed and on the nurses, luckily Carol had been in her surgical gown. But Carol did leave bloody fingerprints all over the tricorder. One of the Medics returned with a piece of medical equipment. He pointed it at the areas covered in blood and turned it on. The device emitted a wide beam that swept the area, removing the spilled blood.

"Keep an eye on her," said Carol. "I have to check on the other patients."

* * *

The doors slid open and Jonathan entered Sickbay. Dr. Carol Murphy left her office and came up to Jonathan.

"How is Wing Commander Benton, Doctor?" asked Jonathan.

"She is totally healed. There were no complications. I was worried for a while; she lost a lot of blood. But she is fine."

"Is it alright if I see her?"

"Of course, Captain. She is in Three."

The _Swiftfire_'s sickbay was large. It had the normal open style bay, the Chief Medical Officer's office. Connected to the main sickbay was a separate room for surgeries as well as several individual patient rooms. Jonathan walked up to the one labelled as three and found the door open. Jonathan looked in. Maxine was standing by one of the beds and was looking in a mirror. She had pulled up the bottom the grey shirt she was wearing, likely the standard uniform undershirt as she inspected her midriff. She had a flat stomach but you could still make out the outlines of her stomach muscles. She ran a hand lightly over her stomach, even from where Jonathan was he could see the smoothness of her skin. Maxine twisted around still feeling out her midriff.

"Are you okay, Wing Commander? Do you want me to get the Doctor?"

Maxine turned her head to face Jonathan; she didn't even flinch at the sight of him at the door. She smiled broadly.

"It is good to see you, Captain. No, I'm fine. The Doctor isn't necessary."

Maxine turned around to face Jonathan and rolled her shirt down, showing no sign of embarrassment.

"This is my first real injury. I was just seeing if it still hurt or anything."

"I remember the first time I needed sealing up," said Jonathan. "I was 8 and playing on this old wooden fort when I got a 10 cm piece of wood through my hand. I went to the hospital and they had to cut my hand open to get it out. Then they sealed it up and it was like nothing happened. But I still spent the next couple of days just feeling around it. I was amazed by it all and how it was like nothing happened but I still expected my hand to burst open at any moment."

Maxine laughed. "I hope that doesn't happen to me! So how is the current situation?"

"Not good," said Jonathan in a depressed tone. "The Repair Yards are at 30%. But can only field two ships at a time. Dominion attacks have stopped for the moment. But we still haven't come against one of their major fleets yet. The Dominion has pushed us back all along the Front. But I came here to see you, how did you get injured?"

"I was harassing a Battle cruiser when it exploded. I was too close and got caught in the explosion, which took out my shields and the hull of my fighter was peppered with debris. One bit smashed through the cockpit and into my abdomen. I didn't even realise since I had received a concussion from the shockwave and all I could think to do was to land my fighter."

"Wait, it opened your ship to zero atmosphere and pierced your flight suit? You should have suffocated?"

Maxine put her hand on the bed and leaned on it, jutting out her hips. She used her right hand to speak.

"The cockpit canopy has a back up layer that automatically replaces the original one when it is damaged or destroyed. Plus if all else fails an emergency forcefield can be put up. I was pretty lucky apparently; the shrapnel didn't damage any of my organs. I can start flying as soon as the Doc kicks me out of here."

"That is good news. You did well today, all your pilots did. Not one lost. In fact you came the closest to dying."

Jonathan's combadge chirped.

"_Commander Core to Captain Masters."_

Jonathan tapped his combadge.

"Masters here."

"_Sir, we're receiving new orders from Admiral Brand."_

"Alright. I'm coming up to the bridge. Masters out." Jonathan tapped his combadge again and looked at Maxine. "I'm sorry, Wing Commander."

"It's okay. It was nice of you to visit."

Jonathan looked like he was about to say something else but he stopped. Jonathan nodded and left.

* * *

As soon as Jonathan was gone Dr. Murphy walked in.

"So how do you feel, Wing Commander?"

"Better," Maxine said dreamily. She quickly shook her head. "I mean good. I feel good."

The Doc smiled.

"He's a nice, young man, the Captain."

Maxine cocked an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

The Doc grinned. "Lay down. I need to run another scan."

"He was very concerned when he first called to check on you," said Carol in a matter of fact way.

"First?"

"This was his third visit. He came twice when you were sedated. He doesn't usually check up on people when they are in Sickbay." Carol completed the scan and checked the findings. "You're fine. Your wound is fully healed, no side effects. Only thing was your heart rate is up. But we all know why."

"Doctor!"

"If you want to get to know him better, go see Commander Core. She knows Captain Masters better then anyone on the ship."

Maxine sat up. "Thank you Doctor. For you help."

Carol smiled. "Remember you should always listen to your Doctor."


	5. Chapter 5

Lieutenant Commander Pavlo Celcho grabbed his hand and started yelling curses in several different languages. As the Chief Engineer he had to make sure that the ship's systems ran perfectly. He was on the lowest deck on the ship, Deck 19, with an Engineering Team fixing the lower Torpedo Tube, which had been damaged during the last attack. He was rerouting power when a feedback happened, giving his hand a large shock. One of the other Engineers rushed over with a First Aid Pack and started to treat Pavlo's hand. Pavlo hissed several more curses.

Pavlo was born in Russia and had lived in there until he was 5. Since both his parent were born in North America they moved back there when he was 5 years old. They had moved to San Francisco, where his parents ran a shuttle repair facility. This is where he first got into Engineering. He helped his parents and their employees with fixing shuttles. He took special joy in modifying the shuttles so they would perform slightly better then their specs. He never had an interest in joining Starfleet until he was 14. One of his parent's clients had experienced catastrophic systems failure in orbit and was rescued from death by a Starfleet ship, the USS_ Horatio_, an _Ambassador_ class starship. The clients had requested that his parents come repair the shuttle. He had gone up with them to the Starfleet ship. He was fascinated to say the least. One of the officers had taken him and his parents on a tour of the ship. He knew right then that this was where he belonged, in space on a starship. Since then he never looked back. Now he was an experienced engineer on one of Starfleet's most impressive vessels.

"Your hand is fine, sir."

"Thanks. Munro, try skipping the secondaries."

Pavlo flexed his hand and looked it over to make sure it was okay.

"No response, Lt. Commander," said Munro.

"Stupid piece of…!" Pavlo slammed the palm of his hand onto the control panel. The panel whirled to life.

Munro shook his head, "The Celcho touch."

Colonel David Tiki walked into the lounge and saw several officers watching something through the windows.

"What's going on?"

"The Admiral has pulled us back to assist repairing the repair Yards." The Lt. Commander pointed to a section of the Repair Yards that appeared to be moving in accordance to a blue light. "We're tractoring some of the larger sections that were separated from the docks back to where they belong and so they can be patched together. They figure we can get 40% of the yards back together. 5 repair spots will be ready just about straight away and given a couple of days we can have up to 14 spots ready. But it will take weeks for us to rebuild it and have all 36 repair bays operational."

The section the _Swiftfire_ was moving reached its position. Work Bees, Engineers in Zero-G suits immediately were all over it as they set to work joining it to the rest of the docks.

The Lt. Commander turned to face David.

"You're Colonel Tiki, aren't you?"

"Yes, and you are?"

"Lieutenant Commander Pavlo Celcho, Chief Engineer. You don't remember me do you?"

"No, have we met?"

"Yes, years ago on Earth. You and your class were celebrating the fact you were about to graduated when you got into a brawl with some Security Officers. I was the officer who broke up the fight."

Recognition flashed in David's eyes. "That's right! You pretended to be the Adjutant to the Superintendent of the Academy. Scared the stuffing out of all of us, we thought we were going to get kicked out of the Academy. We didn't realise who you were until days later. It is good to be formally introduced."

David put out his hand and Pavlo grasped it and shook firmly.

"Now we find ourselves on the same ship," said Pavlo.

"It's a small galaxy."

"One that seems to be getting smaller and smaller," reflected Pavlo. "Billions of stars out there, many with planets and now the Dominion want to take our piece away from us. You think they would be able to find somewhere else to live."

David turned to look out the window, staring deep into space.

"I know what you mean," replied David. "But for some reason it doesn't work like that. No matter how big the universe is there will always be someone who will want to take what you have away from you."

* * *

Susan's door chimed. Susan reluctantly got up; she had a busy day with the numerous battles and then overseeing the operations to repair the Docks, which was still going on. She had finally come off duty and retreated to the peace and quiet of her quarters. Despite being tired she couldn't sleep so she had got up to have a snack and then she started to read a novel. Susan walked to the door, she quickly tightened her blue satin robe to make sure she was adequately covered and then opened he door. She was surprised to see Wing Commander Maxine Benton.

"Sorry, Commander. I woke you…I'll let you get back to sleep," said Maxine. She started to turn to leave.

"Wait, I was already awake. Come in."

Maxine hesitated and nervously came in. Susan led her to a spot under a window where there were two sofas and a small coffee table. This area acted as a relaxing place to sit in the room and was where Susan was before.

"So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit to?" asked Susan.

"Uh, well, Commander. I was…"

"Maxine, I'm off duty. It's just Susan."

"Okay…Susan. Well, you've known the Captain for a long time. You and him are friends right? You know each other well…"

Susan nodded.

Maxine felt herself blush. "Is he…is he…attached?"

Susan nodded; she expected more to come so she didn't say anything.

"Attached?" Susan asked. "Attached to wh…Oh, attached! No, the Captain is not attached."

"Is he seeing anyone?"

"Nope. Why do you ask?"

Maxine's sudden embarrassment finally made Susan see where this conversation was going.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm a bit slow at the moment. You're here for some advice on Jonathan."

Maxine nodded.

"It has been a long time since I gave another female relationship advice, but I think I can remember what to say." Susan lent back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. "Jonathan…where to begin? He is a nice man. He is handsome, intelligent, funny, a great person to be with. But I'm not sure if he is ready for a relationship. He lost a lot of close friends recently and he has only just begun to get over it. Getting close with someone will probably be hard for him at the moment. How much do you like him?"

"I'm very attracted to him. When he came to visit me I was flirting with him…"

"Flirting doesn't always work on Jonathan. He is a bit innocent and a lot of the time will not notice it. You have to be more forward, subtle doesn't work. Does he like you?"

"I'm not sure. But he checked up on me several times I was in Sickbay."

"You're half Betazoid, aren't you?"

"Yes but it's my human genes which are dominant. So I don't have much telepathic or empathic abilities."

"Pity. It could have been useful. Looks like it's the hard road for you."


	6. Chapter 6

Susan hurried onto the Bridge.

"What's going on?"

"The Dominion are attacking again," said Jonathan. "Around 40 ships. They are just engaging our perimeter."

Susan looked at the viewscreen. Jem'Hadar Attack Ships, in groups of two or three, harassed some of the larger Starfleet ships, while the larger Battle cruisers stood off taking pot shots at the Starfleet perimeter.

"How long until the docks are back online?"

"6 hours. Then another 3 hours to get 3 more bays online. But it will be a day or so before we can get anymore online."

"We're pushing the limits. A lot of ships need the docks."

"I know. It isn't looking good. I think we will have to fall back. Cut our losses. The Dominion seem to really want us out of the sector, it is only a matter of time before they send one of their major fleets at us. I doubt we could hold them off."

Susan looked closer at Jonathan. She could see that he had stubble on his chin and she could make out the lines around his eyes.

"Captain, have you been on duty all night?"

Jonathan didn't answer immediately. "I hear the _Enterprise _will be visiting the…"

"Don't change the subject. You have been up on duty all night. Look, you're no good to the ship or the crew if you're too tired to make split second decisions. Don't make me get the Doctor to confine you to quarters."

"Yes, mummy. I promise that it won't happen again."

"See you're acting like a child…the nonsense I have to put up with."

* * *

Later that day in one of the ship's lounges, Frank, Letac and Karak where having a drink and discussing the current situation.

"We're doomed. The Dominion's going to destroy the fleet."

"Frank, stop been so pessimistic. The Dominion hasn't moved a major fleet in our direction," said Terri.

"So, we've still lost over 30 ships to their small attacks, with nearly 10 times that are between low and critical damage. That's most of the Fifth."

"The Ensign's worries have merit. The Dominion is relentless with their attacks. It is logical that they are weakening us for a large strike," said Karak.

"Like I said, we're doomed," Frank said mournfully. He stared at his drink before quickly sculling it. He grabbed the bottle and filled his glass back up.

"Great work, Smiley. Just cheer him up."

"That was not my intention. But by your tone I can assume that you are being sarcastic."

Terri ignored what Karak said and looked at the sorrowful Frank. "Look Frank we have a very good chance of winning this war."

"We do?" Frank's mood picked up.

"That is incorrect. We have only a 45% chance of victory."

"What are you basing that on?" asked Terri. "I give us a 60%, maybe 65% chance of winning."

"I am basing my percentage on known Dominion fleet size, our fleet size, Production of both sides, current loss rates, the Dominion's hold of the Wormhole…"

"I get the point. Look Frank, we stopped the Borg, twice. Defeated the Romulans and Klingons in separate wars. Stopped the Cardassians and we have won numerous wars and conflicts. We'll stop the Dominion. We can't lose, we're the good guys."

"Great, we're going to win because we are on the moral high ground. I feel so much better." said Frank as he downed another drink.

He reached for the bottle; Terri grabbed the bottle at the same time.

"Don't you think you've had enough, Frank?"

"I have to enjoy this while I still can."

Terri let go of the bottle. "Just remember that you have go back on duty in the morning."

"Only if the ship's still here in the morning," mumbled Frank as he downed another glass.

* * *

"Enter."

The door to the Captain's ready Room slid open and in walked Commander Core.

"Yes, Susan?" asked Captain Masters.

"I have bad news. The Second Fleet has fallen back. They lost 29 ships in the retreat."

Jonathan slowly nodded. "That's the third major retreat in the last week."

"I know. That leaves us and the Seventh Fleet still holding positions."

"Well, this war is going great. We lost DS9 and most of our fleets are in retreat. We're barely holding the line." Jonathan looked up. "But that is enough with the war. Have a seat Susan. How are things?"

"So-so. Not getting enough sleep with all the alerts. The crew are feeling the strain."

"There's nothing I can do about the crew until the pressure is off. All I can do is hope they manage to get through it."

"How about more holodeck and recreation time?"

"Not until we at least get the Docks back online."

"How long will that be?"

"Several more hours."

"Well, we better start planning then. What type of setting? I have heard good things of 23rd century Andor."

* * *

Pavlo pressed several buttons on his hip and switched off his magnetic boots. Pavlo lightly pushed away from the structure. As he floated away he engaged his backpack thrusters.

"Repair Dock Control, this is EV Repair 14, I'm starting my external inspection."

"_Affirmative, Lt. Commander. Do you have your shoulder camera?"_ said a female voice.

"Yes, I'm switching it on now. Are you receiving the visual transmission?"

"_Yes, I'm getting the feed. You can start your scan, but don't go too fast, our scanners need time to scan for any microscopic cracks."_

Pavlo edged forward. He was checking the outer hull of the Repair Docks for any tiny cracks. He was sending pictures to the control room of the Repair docks were its computers were analysing and checking for the smallest fault. Five minutes later they found one.

"_Stop! There, lower right. A slight leak in O__2__. Uploading the position to your helmet."_

"Got it. I'm on it."

Pavlo manipulate his thrusters until he was on the structure and engaged his magnetic boots. He knelt down and unhooked a tricorder.

"It's a big crack, but only a small portion is deep enough for it to allow oxygen to leak out. I should be able to seal it myself."

Pavlo released the straps of his backpack and pulled it around. His backpack was not only a thruster pack; it was also able to carry tools in it.

"_Repair 14, this is Control. There are at least 3 other cracks nearby."_

_Great, this is going to take awhile, _thought Pavlo.

"Copy, Control. I'll get onto it as soon as I can."


	7. Chapter 7

40 minutes later and a dozen cracks later Pavlo had only travelling 100 metres and was repairing another leak.

"_Oxygen Malfunction. 3 minutes of air remaining,"_ said the suit's computer.

Pavlo checked his suits readouts.

"Control, I've got a major oxygen malfunction. I have less then 3 minutes of air left. I need help!"

"_Repair 14, we can't get a shuttle to you in time. But there is an airlock 50 metres away. It's on the port side. You'll see it."_

"Thanks."

Pavlo quickly packed up and put his thruster pack on and went. The door was clearly marked. He quickly bypassed its safety codes and opened the door. He glided in and shut the airlock and pressurised the room and opened the secondary door and exited the airlock. He found himself in a large empty room. He quickly disengaged his helmet. He checked his chrono. He had made it easily.

"Control, I made it."

"_That's great to hear. So what is the damage?"_

"I'm checking now. It's pretty bad, but I might be able to repair it. But I'm going to have to shut down my communicator. I think I should be able to get it working in 20, maybe 30 minutes, once I fix it I'll make my way back to operations. Just don't go shutting down the atmosphere in this section."

The female control officer laughed. _"I'll try not to. Good luck. Control out."_

Pavlo released the top half of his suit from his body and pulled it off. He laid it on its front and opened the back section, exposing the suits inner working, including its oxygen device.

"Okay, here we go," said Pavlo as he started to fiddle with the suit.

* * *

"Another Jem'Hadar attack group has exited warp," said Whitechapel.

The _Swiftfire_ held a position high above the Repair Docks so to discourage Dominion ships from attacking the docks. Ahead the bulk of the fleet was fighting with several Dominion attack groups.

"Captain, Admiral Harvey is hailing us."

"Onscreen."

Admiral Harvey appeared on the viewscreen.

"_Captain, we are evacuating the Starbase and the Repair Docks."_

Jonathan couldn't hide the surprise he felt.

"Why, sir? We can hold off the Dominion attack groups easily."

"_We can, but can we also hold out against a major Dominion Fleet? Our listening posts have confirmed reports that the Dominion is sending a large fleet here, it looks like the entire Thirteenth Division. Add to that the fact that we have seen an increasing number of ships from Cardassian Twenty-Third Order we are going to be heavily outnumbered with no chance of support from the rest of our forces. We need you to assist in evacuating the Docks."_

That was the news that they had not wanted to hear. So far the Fifth had only faced forces made up of several wings; however a Division was a major Dominion fleet unit. From the reports Starfleet had gathered the Dominion divided its total fleet into Divisions, which could get all large as a thousand ships. With such a major force coming to attack them and as the Admiral pointed out the current harassing forces of Jem'Hadar ships and the forces of a Cardassian Order their position was untenable.

"We'll send in shuttles at once, Admiral."

The screen returned to show the battle ahead of the _Swiftfire_ as the Admiral ended the transmission.

"Lt. Commander, scramble all shuttles. See if you can also get the Marine Shuttles to assist."

Nikki nodded and quickly went to the Turbolift to go to the shuttle bay.

* * *

By the time the first shuttles started to leave the _Swiftfire_ the evacuation of the Docks was in full swing. One of the first shuttles from the _Swiftfire_ to land in one of the docks multiple landing bays was one of the Marines' _Normandy_ class dropships. The rear door opened and out stepped Major Stevens into a scene of chaos. The bay was packed with shuttles, equipment and personnel. An officer ran up to the Major.

"How many people can your shuttle carry?"

"We could squeeze up to fifty people onboard, as long as they didn't have much in the way of extra cargo."

"Good. Follow me."

The officer ran to the entrance of the landing bay where several security officers blocked the entrance to the bay. People weren't trying to force their way through, but it was safer to keep a large crowd out of the bay, which was dangerous enough with the shuttles coming and going without unnecessary personnel running around.

"Let 50 of them in and tell them to follow the Marine!"

The officer nodded and then started shouting at the crowd. When they got 50 people Major Stevens led them back to the shuttle and started to pile them onboard.

* * *

It took twenty minutes for the evacuations to be complete. The Fleet had also destroyed all the attacking Jem'Hadar ships and had started a general retreat. The _Swiftfire_ was ready to leave.

"Okay, we are just about ready to go. Lt. Commander Whitechapel, get me Lt. Commander Celcho."

"Sir, I can't find him."

"What do you mean, you can't find him?"

"According to the Engineer in charge he went to the Repair docks over an hour ago."

"And he's not back! Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Put me on the ship wide intercom. This is the Captain we are missing Lt. Commander Pavlo Celcho. He was on the Docks before the evacuation. Does anyone know of his current whereabouts? If you do contact one of the _Swiftfire_'s crew immediately."

It didn't take long for a response.

"_Captain, this is Colonel Tiki. I have a Lieutenant who says she knows something about the Chief Engineer."_

"Put her on."

"_Captain," _came a female voice. _ "I was the Lt. Commander's contact on Dock Control when he was repairing the Docks. He had an oxygen malfunction on his spacesuit and entered the Docks to fix it."_

"So he would have evacuated to another ship then?"

"_I don't think so, when he went in to fix his suit he had to take his communicator offline and the section he was in was totally sealed. He said it would only take his 20 minutes to fix his suit and he said he would just return to base when it was done."_

"So you are saying he is still on the Docks!"

"_I think so, Captain."_

"Great! Okay, we need to find him quickly the Dominion Fleet isn't far away. Inform Admiral Brand of our situation."

"_Captain, this is Colonel Tiki. We're in the Shuttlebay. I could take a shuttle and go and get him."_

"Sounds like a plan. Lieutenant you know where he might be?"

"_Yes, sir."_

"Good. Colonel, take the Lieutenant with you."

Down in the Shuttlebay David ran over to where Major Stevens and a Marine pilot were leaning on a dropship.

"Major, we are going to pick up someone."

"The Chief Engineer?"

"Correct. He is still on the docks. We need to get to him and fast."

The pilot rushed into the cockpit of the shuttle.

"Lieutenant, direct the pilot. Major, get in."

They sealed the entry door and launched the shuttle and cruised towards the large Repair docks. The Shuttle zipped through the debris and the Docks structure.

"There." Pointed the Lieutenant. "He's in there, Colonel."

"Okay, beam him out pilot."

The pilot tried to beam Pavlo out but the transporters refused to cooperate.

"I don't seem to be able to beam him out. This part of the structure is interfering with transporters," said the pilot.

"Looks like we'll have to go and get him. Hold position here, pilot."

David grabbed his helmet and sealed it to his suit. David pulled out two thruster packs from one of the equipment cupboards in the back of the shuttle. He threw one to Major Stevens who strapped it on. The Major gave David the thumbs up. David nodded and opened the shuttle door. A forcefield was erected behind the two Marines so to stop the rest of the shuttle from losing atmosphere. Colonel Tiki and Major Stevens jumped out of the shuttle and engaged their thrusters. Because of the size of the shuttle, it couldn't get really close to the section that Lt. Commander Celcho was in. The two Marines dodged around beams that had been welded into place so to keep the Docks together. They came to the airlock and entered the superstructure. They found Celcho on the ground hunched over the upper section of his suit.

Celcho looked up surprised. "Hello, come to give me a hand? I've been working on the O2 synthesiser for over 40 minutes and I've come to a decision that is it totally stuffed."

"Is that some sort of special engineering term, Lt. Commander?"

"Colonel Tiki is that you?"

"Yes. We need to get out of here Lt. Commander. We are abandoning this sector."

"What? Why?" said a surprised Pavlo.

"The Dominion has sent a huge fleet to force us out of this sector and the Admiral decided that it would be better to pull out now then to fight a battle we can't win."

"I can't leave. I have no air."

"Does your suit still seal?" asked David.

Pavlo nodded.

"Good. You'll just have to hold your breath for about 30 seconds. At worse you'll lose consciousness."

"Wow, I feel so much better now," said Pavlo sarcastically.

David ignored Pavlo's last statement. "Here's the plan. We go into the decompression room; you put on your helmet when we start the decompression, that way you'll be without air for the shortest possible time. The Major and I will drag you to the shuttle. Okay? Good. Suit up."

Pavlo quickly put his suit on and they went into the decompression room. David counted down and Pavlo quickly put his helmet on as the room quickly lost atmosphere. After 10 seconds Pavlo realised something was wrong. David and the Major exchanged looks and they looked at the panel that controlled the decompression.

"The atmosphere is gone but the doors are stuck," said David. "Don't worry Lt. Commander, we'll have the doors open in no time."

Pavlo looked around panicked. David pulled out his hand phaser and fired it at the door.

"Your phaser doesn't have the punch to cut through or destroy the door before the Lt. Commander really feels the effects of no oxygen, Colonel," said Major Stevens.

David swore loudly and put his phaser away. He pulled out a small rectangular pack. He pulled a bit off and stuck it to the door. The Colonel ran back as far as he could. He and the Major shielded Pavlo.

"Ready?"

Pavlo's nodded a shaky nod.

David pulled out his phaser and fired at the object he stuck on the door. It exploded taking out the door. Pavlo felt the heat of the explosion but nothing else. The explosive was specially designed so that the blast was directed away from the officers. David and the Major quickly pulled Pavlo up and jumped out of the Docks. Pavlo had a death grip on both Marines as he struggled not to panic. He felt like he had a great weight on his chest. He could hear David's voice but he couldn't make out the words anymore. The only sound he could hear was the thunderous beating of his heart. He saw the shuttle ahead getting bigger as they got closer. His vision started to blur as he gradually lost focus. He struggled to keep his eyes open but he couldn't fight nature.

Pavlo was sure he was dead. It was nothing like he expected, there was nothing but darkness. He was sort of disappointed in it when he heard a voice in the distant. The voice got louder as it seemed to get closer. He recognised the voice it was David. Pavlo was confused at first but then realised that he was still alive. He slowly forced open his eyes. Above his was David who was yelling his name.

"Lt. Commander, are you okay?"

"Just super," whispered Pavlo hoarsely.

David hit him on the shoulder. "I knew it would take more that a little lack of oxygen to beat you, Lt. Commander."

* * *

The _Swiftfire_ was one of a dozen ships still in system. When it was confirmed that the shuttle was onboard and the Lt. Commander was back the _Swiftfire_ started to move out.

"Prepare for warp," ordered Jonathan.

The _Swiftfire_ cruised slowly away from the Docks.

"Are we just leaving the Starbase and the Docks for the Dominion?" asked Lt. Commander Whitechapel.

"Yes, but with a little surprise. They are rigged to explode when boarded. They'll get what they deserve for taking this system," said Jonathan.

"Where are we heading, Captain?" asked Karak.

"To the Guyra System, the new home of the Fifth Fleet. One that I hope we won't have to leave anytime soon."

The _Swiftfire_ cleared the Dock area and went to warp.

Jonathan stared into the lines of light as they zipped past the viewscreen as the ship travelled faster then light and whispered, "If the Dominion thinks that we are beaten, they are sadly mistaken."


End file.
